Ōno Benkichi
Ōno Benkichi was a Japanese photographer and inventor. He is known for making Karakuri puppets.
Also recorded as Nakamuraya Benkichi
Ōno Benkichi
- Born
- 1801 · Gojō Street.
- Died
- 1870 · Ōno.
- Nationality
- Japan
- Occupation
- photographer · inventor
- Languages
- Japanese
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Documentary evidence
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Authority files
wikidata · Q6531096 · wikipedia · Ōno Benkichi
In this article
Life and career
Life and career
Ōno Benkichi was born in Kyoto in 1801. His real name was Nakamuraya Benkichi. At the age of 20, he moved to Nagasaki to study Western medicine and science. After studying weaponry and mathematics on Tsushima Island, he returned to Kyoto and married. In 1831, he moved to Ohno (now Ishikawa Prefecture), where his wife was born, and lived there for the rest of his life. He died in 1870. Ōno was one of the first Japanese to experiment with photography. His first photograph dates back to 1850s. Ōno designed various devices, including cameras, lighters, clocks, and telescopes. His invention, Electel, was designed to generate static electricity and was used in medicine. One of his famous mechanisms is called the "Tea-serving boy".
Places
Named by the record
Places
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Gojō Street.
Birth place
Ōno.
Death place
Legacy
Karakuri Memorial Museum is dedicated to Ōno's inventions and life, and features a display of the Karakuri puppets he made.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Ōno Benkichi, revision 1362178459 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
References
Citations
References
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Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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